In October, a downward price trend prevailed in the European ferroalloys market in almost all segments, worsening the sentiments after a very modest market revival after the summer pause in September.
Both global and local reasons contributed to this. Among the former, we should note the week of holidays in China at the beginning of the month, which slowed down business activity in Asia, as well as persistent macroeconomic risks in all critical regions of the world amid the political situation.
Among the local factors contributing to the slowdown of business activity in the metals markets in Europe, we should first refer to the tightening of the monetary policy of the ECB, which implemented the sixth increase in the critical rate for the year at the end of September. The fight against inflation naturally leads to decreased liquidity in the trading sector.
This is also reflected in the dynamics of steelmaking in the region. According to World Steel, in the first nine months of this year, steel production in the EU fell by 9.1% to 96.2 million tonnes.
Manganese and Silicon
|
Last month’s bulk alloys prices |
|
|
|
|
|
Oct-23 |
MoM |
YoY |
|
FeSi 75% Si, 1.5% Al (€/mt) |
1313 |
1% |
-37% |
|
HC FeMn 75% Mn, 8% C (€/mt) |
997 |
2% |
-14% |
|
SiMn 65% Mn, 17% Si (€/mt) |
1000 |
1% |
-13% |
|
Mn Metal Flakes 99.7% Mn (€/mt) |
1727 |
-8% |
-29% |
|
All prices are FCA major European port, and pre-payment |
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- By the end of the month, some FeSi suppliers, appealing to the shortage of material with prompt delivery, were trying to pull up the offer prices, while others were not refusing discounts to attract buyers
- With the main phase of the quarterly contracts signing campaign coming to an end, business activity in the European manganese alloys market had noticeably declined by October
- South32 slightly cuts December Mn ore prices amid lower demand in China
- After demonstrating high volatility during the month, manganese metal flakes prices went on an uptrend towards the end of October
- In the fourth quarter, Elkem aims to intensify maintenance and implement improvements at its ferrosilicon plant in Iceland.
Noble and Chromium alloys
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Last month’s noble alloys and nickel prices |
|
|
|
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Oct-23 |
MoM |
YoY |
|
HC FeCr 65% Cr, 8% C (USD/lb) |
1,37 |
11% |
-44% |
|
LC FeCr 65% Cr, 0.15% C (USD/lb) |
2,44 |
-2% |
-8% |
|
FeMo 65% Mo (USD/kg) |
48,80 |
-12% |
7% |
|
FeV 75% V (USD/kg) |
27,31 |
-8% |
-15% |
|
FeW 75% W (USD/kg) |
36,41 |
0% |
-2% |
|
FeTi 65% Ti (USD/kg) |
5,45 |
-8% |
-11% |
|
Ni Briquettes Premium (USD/mt) |
345 |
-12% |
-46% |
|
All prices are FCA major European port, and pre-payment |
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- The European ferromolybdenum market continued to witness significant volatility, leaving both traders and end-users in search of viable pricing solutions
- Activity in the European HC FeCr market was Sellers noted relatively modest demand from buyers
- Despite a persistently lacklustre demand from European end-users, some LC FeCr suppliers continued their efforts to secure higher prices during negotiations
- After failing to gain support from the newly implemented export duty in Russia in their efforts to boost prices, Russian FeTi suppliers have once again returned to the European market with aggressive offers
- The European FeV market continues to experience limited activity, primarily characterised by small-volume transactions to address immediate needs
- Tsingshan Holding (TSS) has expectedly reduced its November price for HC FeCr
- Slovakian OFZ plans to start test smelting of low-carbon ferrochrome (0.5% C max) at one furnace
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